not every piercer does their job right thats a given but alot do and i would take advise from a professional before some random person online. im not saying ur wrong im just speaking from my personal experiences, im at 0g and my ears look fine

Corazon is one of the most knowledgeable people here on these forums. If you don't want advise from "some random person online" you are in the wrong place.

Back to the OP.

stafny wrote:okay, so, i sized down to a 20g the other day, the swelling has gone down a lot, and it looks like the "bruise" that was next to the piercing has faded quite a bit...(cut for length)... i tried to stretch up to a 6g in my right lobe the other day, but it really did not want to take the taper. it went about half way, but then started to get stuck. so i didn't force it. i do not believe waiting longer is a problem, considering this lobe has been at an 8g for a couple of months now.

When you downsize you can't just pop your old plugs back in. You have to stretch back up and take your time about it too. I would like to see you paying closer attention to your body. When you encounter a lot of resistance don't just muscle through, just give your ears more time.

I'm not saying you should take the advice of just one random person online over a piercer, but the overwhelming majority of piercers really don't know how to stretch safely. I didn't learn about stretching by taking the advice of a random person, but I did learn on forums like this one. I listened to the most cautious people with the healthiest lobes, who were all giving the same advice and getting great results. That made more sense to me than listening to someone who says it's okay to rush. I see a lot of "I stretched fast and I'm fine" on this board and that's just luck. The advice I and a few others on this forum give will pretty much guarantee healthy lobes, there's no risk involved.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your ears, just that it's very uncommon to be able to stretch after two months of being pierced without problems. My piercer said I should wait four months, I tried after 4 1/2 and my ears were nowhere near ready but they were after six months. If I would've stretched after two months I would have destroyed my ears. I know the most important thing is to listen to your own body but in many cases, if you tell someone you personally stretched after two months and were fine, they'll think "they did it, so my ears should be ready too!" and wonder why their ears are sore and bleeding when they try to stretch.

Just out of curiosity, when you say you've had "no problems," have all your stretches been completely painless with no resistance?

Sorry if this is slightly off-topic but I do think discussions like these are helpful to people like the OP who are just starting out.

I'm Lindsay.I have 1/2" lobes and 11 piercings: left helix x2, both conches, both nostrils, septum, navel, and VCH.My lobes are small but I know a lot about stretching and how to do it safely, so message me if you have any questions!

sorry didnt see my earlier post up, i just dont believe there is a "timeframe" that works for everyone, everyone heals different, im not saying she gives bad advice i actually think she gives good advice being cautious is good. not completely painless there is a little pinch but nothing bad im not like some people u see online who "make it go" if it hurt i wouldnt have done it. the only pain was when i stretched from 2 to 0 i had acrylic plugs and they stuck a little i knew u were not supposed to use acrylic in a fresh stretch but thats all i had LESSON LEARNED

Yeah, I agree that there's no exact time frame a person can follow. However, it's best to at least have some sort of guideline so people will have an idea of how long most people's lobes take to be ready to stretch. I always tell people "6 to 8 weeks between sizes or until you can put the next size in with no pain or resistance." It's very rare that a person can stretch every couple weeks without problems so I think 6-8 weeks is a pretty realistic guideline.

I'm Lindsay.I have 1/2" lobes and 11 piercings: left helix x2, both conches, both nostrils, septum, navel, and VCH.My lobes are small but I know a lot about stretching and how to do it safely, so message me if you have any questions!

yes peoples bodies do heal at different rates , but not that drastically different ... a few days or a week sooner perhaps but SOME people on here give off the wild impression that what would take an average human weeks to heal from they heal from in a day or 2 and thats not accurate ..for example its not as if one person can break there leg and it takes months and months to heal but some one elses body can heal the broken leg in " 3 days " ... you see my point ?

yes peoples bodies heal at somewhat different rates but assuming no one here is Wolverine the rate of healing isnt going to be that dramatically different

plus Ive said it before and Ill probably have to say it again - just cause the skin on the outside is closed and not bleeding doesnt mean the underlying tissues are fully healed and have had time to rebuild Collagen - the whole reason stretching is possible in the first place ( the lobe gets bigger because of collagen - without enough collagen the lobes can thin out )

a great example is ....I had major surgery they put a 6 1/2 inch incision in My abdomen - they took the staples out 2 days later . The skin on the outside was totally closed ! it was not bleeding and looked like a healed scar ...BUT I was not totally recovered from surgery it took almost 4 months before the tissues were strong enough to return to physical activity with out the risk of ripping My incision because all the " inside tissues" were still healing -- ears are no different than healing any other part of the body